Chapter Text
It was one o’clock in the afternoon and Arthur had just finished his lunch break at the sandwich shop which was across the way from his new law firm in Ealdor. As it turned out, there was a lack of lawyers in Ealdor (since it was a small town) and when Arthur put in his own firm, he started up a good business. It wasn’t the type of law he had been practicing in the city, but he enjoyed it more.
Mithian, a fellow lawyer, was smiling at him when he entered the office. That gave Arthur a bad feeling.
“What are you smiling about?” He asked as he picked up the file that his secretary, Sefa, had handed him.
“You’ll see.” she said, ominously and walked into the copier room. He eyed her, hoping she could feel his stare through the back of her head and walked into his office.
On his desk was a huge bouquet of flowers. They were every size and color, perfuming the entire room in a sweet natural scent. Arthur groaned, knowing that the whole office probably knew by now that their boss had received flowers. He tried to seem like the tough boss, and it was Merlin’s fault he was failing miserably.
He picked up the card in the bouquet. Inside it read: “I was testing out a new bouquet and thought you would them. xx” in Merlin’s loopy scrawl. Arthur smiled as he thought of how Merlin made flowers, his lips tight in concentration and his eyes gold with magic.
He bent down, smelling one of the bright purple wildflowers that only Merlin could make. Sometimes Arthur even wondered if Mother Nature could make a flower as well as Merlin could. It smelled the way sunshine feels on a winter day, crisp and bright. He looked back at the card again as he admired Merlin’s work.
“The two of you are so cute.”
Arthur spun on his heel to see Mithian leaning against the doorframe of his office.
“Unless you have that case file for me, why are you here?” Arthur asked as he tried to cover his blush which was already rushing through his cheeks.
She ignored his comment. “A messenger came in to ask who the flowers were for, since the card only said Pendragon Law. He was looking at me and I had to tell him they could only be for you.” She looked over Arthur’s shoulder to the bouquet again. “He really does a lovely job.”
“He did it on purpose.” Arthur said with an eye roll. “He’s trying to embarrass me.”
“And he does it well.” Mithian laughed. “But I have to say you were looking pretty smitten right now.”
“I am not smitten.” Arthur said in a scandalized tone. To tell the truth, he was far beyond smitten. It had been just under two years since Merlin and Arthur had started dating. After their initially slow pace of getting together, it only took three months before Merlin moved into Camelot. Arthur was much more than smitten.
“You moved to Ealdor for him.”
“I had a house in Ealdor.” he retorted, ignoring the fact that Merlin was a large factor for his move. It was true that he hadn’t liked his life and job in the city, but those were only small factors in his decision. Ealdor felt like home, in his mother’s house with Merlin at his side.
He had even persuaded his dad to visit Camelot, though it had taken a lot arguing (luckily Arthur was a lawyer and a rather good one). Uther only consented when Arthur said that Igraine wanted him to visit the house, as she had said in her letter. At first Arthur had thought Uther hated the place because he was dead quiet the entire visit. But then he saw his father run his fingers over Igraine’s portrait on the wall and Arthur thought that maybe Uther wasn’t really the kind of man to talk when overwhelmed.
Uther had even met Merlin (who by that point had moved in with Arthur). Merlin made a good impression, mostly due to his work in the garden. It had been a close call though. Uther had looked at Merlin’s green thumb as if it might contaminate anything it touched. Arthur was positive that if Uther knew the truth he would have been more than just concerned. They had decided it was probably better if Uther never found out why Merlin was such a great gardener.
Arthur took the card off his desk and tucked it into his coat pocket before sitting down. Mithian didn’t miss it and he wished he could have been more subtle about keeping the card.
“You like the flowers, come on. Admit it.”
Arthur opened up his laptop and typed in the password, not looking at her. “Of course I like the bouquet. My boyfriend owns a garden shop and nursery. He designed our garden. We’d have a problem if I didn’t like his work.”
Mithian grinned, setting down the file that had been in her hands, finally satisfied with Arthur’s answer. Sefa came in a moment later with a packet. Her eyes landed on the bouquet which took up most of Arthur’s desk. “Whoa-“
“Shut up.” His ears were growing warm as he opened up his project files.
“They’re lovely.” They both smiled at him.
Arthur groaned, “Both of you, get out of here. I have work to do.” This time they listened to him and exited, but not before Mithian caught him looking at the bouquet again.
***
Later that night, Merlin was in the kitchen at Camelot making dinner. He heard Arthur come home and only a few moments later he felt him press right behind him. Arthur pulled Merlin’s hands away from the carrots that he was peeling and held them in his own. He felt Arthur press a light kiss to his cheek.
Merlin sighed, “Hello.”
“You sent me flowers.”
Merlin laughed and tried to keep his voice from being too mocking. “Yes I did.” He failed at keeping a smirk off his face.
“Mithian and Sefa were relentless, I hope you’re happy.” Another kiss was touched to Merlin’s jaw. Merlin let his head fall back onto Arthur’s shoulder and grinned at him.
“Oh, I’m glad. You need people to mess with you.”
Arthur wrapped his arms around Merlin’s waist. “I barely got any work done. My entire office smelt like flowers” Arthur ran his lips along Merlin’s jaw. “I kept thinking of you. It was very bad for my work ethic.”
Merlin’s heart leapt in his chest and he couldn’t help but smile even wider at Arthur. “Did you like them?”
Arthur turned Merlin so that they were face to face. Merlin barely had time to take a breath before Arthur was kissing him. The kiss took Merlin’s breath away. He felt like he was miles above the ground as Arthur pressed closer and his fingers skimmed over Merlin’s jaw.
Arthur pulled away, “That answer your question?”
Merlin stil had his eyes closed and he was trying to float back down to the ground. “Wha’ question?” He felt a little light headed.
Arthur laughed and kissed Merlin again, “I liked the flowers.”
“Oh.” Merlin opened his eyes to see Arthur bright and happy. “If this is how you react, I’m doing it again.” He was already thinking of the roses he would make Arthur.
Arthur’s nose scrunched up as he said, “I’m sure Mithian would love to pester me again.”
“I’ll give her a plant for her desk if she promises to keep it up.” Merlin grinned widely as Arthur rolled his eyes.
“As my boyfriend, you’re supposed to be on my side.”
“Well that’s no fun.” Merlin pecked another kiss to Arthur’s lips. “Love you.” he sing-songed, knowing it would crumble Arthur’s defenses.
“You’re horrible.” Arthur kissed him again, “You’re lucky I love you.” Merlin hummed, pretending to be put-upon and draped his arms over Arthur’s neck. Arthur nipped at his jaw and pressed kisses to his neck.
“The food’s going to burn.” Merlin said as Arthur kissed him again. Arthur huffed unhappily. Merlin laughed, “Please, you’d be devastated if the food burned.”
“It would be a shame. Your food is delicious.”
Merlin extracted himself from Arthur’s embrace and went over to the stove. “I knew you were with me for a reason. You’re using me for food.”
“Of course. There is no other possible reason.”
Merlin finished making dinner and Arthur opened up a bottle of wine. Eventually Aithusa showed herself and welcomed Arthur home, as she always did. She meowed at him persistently. Merlin saw Arthur sigh and pick up his baby. After two years Aithusa still adored him as if she were still the hapless kitten he had found roaming Camelot.
She was now fully grown, a sleek white cat. Her meows now had their own vocabulary, with some help from Kilgharragh. Unfortunately, Merlin was still the only one who could understand animals, though he often translated for Arthur. Across the kitchen, Merlin could hear Aithusa purring Arthur’s name as he held her. Once, Merlin had told Arthur that Aithusa said ‘Arthur’ the same way people might say ‘Dad’ and the face he had made could still make Merlin laugh. Arthur had looked a mix between confused, scandalized, and besotted.
Kilgharragh, who was still going through life with his interfering and patronizing tone, was sleeping on his bed in the corner of the kitchen. Merlin was beginning to think his beast of a dog had the life span of a tortoise.
That night Merlin and Arthur ate in the garden. Arthur turned on the faery lights, since neither of them had had the heart to take them down after the party. Aithusa prowled the garden, probably finding lizards to stalk and kill. Kilgharragh had woken up and trotted around the yard as he inspected every bush and tree.
After dinner, they walked around the garden, their hands intertwined. Merlin checked on some of the plants, letting his magic flow through the rich soil. Then he made Arthur a golden rose and Arthur pretended to be annoyed as he put the flower behind Merlin’s ear. By the time they went back in the house the stars were in the sky. Merlin turned off the faery lights, letting the stars shine onto the garden.